Here in Australia, it’s officially the second day of winter. And in Brisbane, a typical autumn all but passed us by. On the plus side: this past autumn was the best kind of summer I can remember! Warm days (but not too warm), cool nights (but not too cool) and lower humidity (a shocker for the garden but made the warm days even more idyllic).
So even though the temperatures are mild, the weather has been drier and your skin is probably starting to feel it. With less moisture in the air — whether lack of humidity or turning on the heating in your home and office — you need extra hydration to combat that. Start some prevention now (we’re all for prevention here at The Good Oil Daily) and you’ll have a head start when winter does kick in.
Today, I’m going to cover some key facts about skin to help understand why it needs extra TLC during the colder months. So here goes.
- Our skin is the largest organ of the body
- Skin makes up around 16% of our adult body weight
- It serves as a barrier to the environment
- It produces Vitamin D when exposed to the sun
- Skin helps regulate body temperature through sweat glands
- It helps regulate metabolism
- Skin contains keratinocytes, which produce keratin proteins
- It also has fibroblasts to produce collagens and elastins
- Our largest organ contains melanocytes, too, which produce the pigment melanin to absorb harmful UV light and protect your DNA in the nucleus from UV damage
Dry and cold environments put stresses on these various elements of the skin and there are four key things you can do to take care of all of them:
EXFOLIATE — HYDRATE — PROTECT — REPEAT
This will also connect you up with The Good Oil Team for our personal support and coaching. We'd love to help you on your journey to vibrant well-being the natural way!
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EXFOLIATE WEEKLY
Dry skin typically experiences a breakdown of the skin barrier functions due to inflammation, as well as a build-up of dead skin cells. Your skin’s natural shedding process slows in winter, so while hydration is essential for stopping your skin from drying out, it’s harder to hydrate with products if your skin hasn’t been exfoliated — and you’ll need to give it an extra hand, but a gentle one. Now is not the time for products with highly active ingredients, as your skin is more sensitive and this can aggravate it. Exfoliate all over once or twice a week but look for mild, soothing scrubs.
LAVENDER OATMEAL and HONEYED OLIVE OIL SCRUB / MASK
1/4 cup uncooked quick organic oats (nourishing, gentle, exfoliating)
1/8 cup honey (balancing, gentle, antibacterial)
1/8 cup olive oil or Young Living V-6™ Vegetable Oil Complex (nourishing)
Optional: 3-5 drops of Young Living lavender oil (soothing, anti-inflammatory)
Mix, apply a thick layer to cleansed skin, massage gently in a circular motion then leave on the skin as a mask for a few minutes, rinse with tepid water (avoid extremes) and follow with moisturiser.
Or for a natural product alternative, apply Young Living’s gentle but effective essential oil-infused Satin Facial Scrub™ Mint. (Click here for help with ordering.)
Once your skin is exfoliating and glowing, you’ll need to get straight onto the next steps. See you next post for Part 2 of Tips for Natural Winter Skin Care when we’ll cover how to HYDRATE and PROTECT for gorgeous skin the natural way, not just at winter but all year around.
